Railway switch stands have been utilized on railroads for many years, and are the subject of a large number of patents. However, the current switch stands in operation still suffer several drawbacks. One major problem with present day hand-operated throw-type switches is in the many back and leg injuries to railroad personnel caused by the actual throwing of the switch. Such injuries can be quite expensive to the railroad in loss of personnel, and lawsuits brought by the injured persons.
Another problem with prior art switch stands is apparent in situations where a train runs through a switch which is in the wrong position. In such a case, the switch stand components are typically destroyed. Such switch stands are expensive to replace, and require time and labor of railroad personnel to install. Although prior art devices have utilized shear pins and the like to protect the major components of a switch stand in the event of a run through, there must still be a maintenance crew to repair the switch stand after the run through, as well as a certain amount of "down time".
While various types of electrical and hydraulic switches are known, such prior art switches are not capable of manual operation in the event of a loss of power, nor do they all provide desirable run through protection.